Why I think Hollyleaf spoke out at the Gathering by xxravenshadexx

xxravenshadexx shares their opinion on Hollyleaf’s actions.

the topic of how Hollyleaf spoke out about Leafpool being her real mother and Crowfeather being her father has always been a topic that has baffled fans of the series. She killed Ashfur to keep her secret, after all, and she didn’t want to harm the reputation of her Clanmates and siblings. Sure, it pretty much says that the shock drives who to it, which is pretty true, but I came up with five reasons that, if you read between the lines, shows why she did what she did.

1. The Shock Of The Truth- Yeah I know I mentioned this already, but I think I’ll go into detail. Hollyleaf had been in shock from the moment Squirrelflight had revealed that she wasn’t Hollyleaf’s true mother. This burdened Hollyleaf deeply for the rest of the series, and was something that caused her to act strange. She killed Ashfur because she felt like it was the right thing to do for her Clanmates as well as her littermates. She was mostly upset that her birth could’ve been outside the Clans, and she didn’t know if the warrior code allowed that or not. She was unsure of that, though, so she didn’t have any way of knowing if her birth was truly against the warrior code. At that point, all she could do was try to follow the code and speculate while not giving away her secrets. But when she discovered that Leafpool was her true mother, it must have een a total shock. She knew she was still a part of the prophecy at that point, as she was still related to Firestar, but her birth was against the warrior code. It was worse when she found out that Crowfeather was her father. At that point she was no longer thinking clearly. She didn’t have a clear conscience anymore. All she could feel was shock and betrayal at the lies of the cats around her.

2. The Warrior Code- Hollyleaf feels as if the warrior code has been shattered once she finds out the truth about who her parents are. She’s furious, shocked, and hurt. She feels as though there’s no point in hiding the truth now that the warrior code has been trampled over by so many cats- including herself when she killed Ashfur!

3. Her Clan Loyalty- Hollyleaf still feels loyal to the Clan, despite the fact she knows she’s doing them a disservice by telling every cat the truth. She does, however, want her Clanmates to be made aware of the fact that her own mother and aunt were codebreakers, and that they were lying to them. This is because she is still loyal to a degree, and wants her Clanmates to know the truth, although she did tell the entire forest as well.

4. Anger- It was pretty obvious that Hollyleaf was done with Leafpool and Squirrelflight. She had had enough of their lies, and wanted to expose them out of fury. She wanted them to suffer as well.

5. Feeling Unwanted By Her Parents- She wondered if her father, whoever he was, would’ve been proud of her, and was hurt when he didn’t acknowledge their kinship. She was furious that her true parents couldn’t approve of her, and was honestly just broken at that point.

Those are my reasons for why I think she acted out. She was a level-headed character, and it makes sense that shock would’e destroyed her.